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Lucie Shaw's story is becoming an increasingly common one -- a sign women are slowly making strides in entrepreneurship, especially in franchising.

Frustrated by trying to find home health-care services for her in-laws, she decided to leave her operations manager job at Air Canada during its restructuring to open a home care franchise in early 2009.

Her Mississauga, Ont., location made buying into a Nurse Next Door franchise a reasonable financial commitment that let her pursue a passion for being a caregiver. "I was blown away by the core values and the passion of the business," Shaw says.

"When you find the business that suits who you are and can also suit a family lifestyle, it becomes a perfect fit."

An Industry Canada survey of small and mid-sized businesses shows average net profits at female-owned businesses were 89 per cent of that of male-owned businesses in 2007 -- a marked improvement from 52 per cent in 2000. Only 43 per cent of female business owners had post-secondary education in 1990, versus 71 per cent today, which is 10 per cent higher than men.

"We likely haven't seen the peak in (women's) desire to become an entrepreneur," write TD economists Beata Caranci and Leslie Preston in a TD Economics report this year. "Prospects are looking brighter for women entrepreneurs."

The proportion of women owners who intend to expand their businesses is higher than men and has increased historically, Caranci and Preston wrote.

At Nurse Next Door Inc., the company John DeHart co-founded with Ken Sim, 68 per cent of franchisees are women. The TD report notes the No. 1 industry for self-employed women in Canada is health care and social assistance, while for men it's construction.

"Women do control the purchasing power when it comes to health care (and) are most likely doing some kind of caring at home for the kids or parents or both," DeHart says.

An increasing number of women are looking at franchising as less risky than starting out on their own with no support.

Many are Baby Boomers who are tired of slogging away at the nine-to-five routine and perhaps view a franchise as an opportunity to launch into a new career path while building a nest egg for retirement.

"There certainly is a trend in Baby Boomers buying franchises because they're getting to that stage where maybe they have 10 years left of work and they want to build wealth," DeHart says.

A barrier to women becoming entrepreneurs could be the closing wage gap in full-time, paid employment. Statistics Canada data shows wages for women aged 25 to 54 rose 13 per cent from 2001 to 2011, compared with five per cent for men. Better pay could keep many women from taking the risks of owning a business or a franchise.

The one area where men continue to outperform women in business is revenue growth. A similar number of male and female business owners indicated in Industry Canada's 2004 survey they intended to expand their business, but revenue at male-owned businesses grew 6.7 per cent in the four years to 2008, compared with 3.9 per cent at women-owned businesses.

The number of female franchisees tends to be higher than female entrepreneurs overall, which has consistently stayed at 16 per cent in recent years.

The entry cost for a Nurse Next Door operation is a relatively small outlay up front -- the initial franchise fee is $40,000 and the company requires a total investment of $125,000, including marketing and first-year working capital -- a cost Shaw says made sense at this stage in her life.

"I was looking for something I could feel passionate about -- something where I could give back," says Shaw, who opened her franchise in July 2009 and was recognized for being among the top-performing franchisees in the system within a year.

Although there are plenty of successful male franchisees at Nurse Next Door, Shaw contends women have an edge in this sector. "We're the multitaskers, the ones that take care of most of the care-giving issues in a family -- be it kids or parents -- it is something that resonates easily with us."

The co-founders of Nurse Next Door have seen studies showing women entrepreneurs are better-suited to franchising than men, says DeHart, adding he expects to see that trend continue.

"You will absolutely see that grow. You see these passionate, engaged, women entrepreneurs and I'm always amazed at the power of the business represented by that group."

Shaw is getting on with building relationships in what is a very personal industry. Her advice for women is to take the plunge, once you done your research and due diligence.

"If it's something you feel passionate about, the rewards are immense. You just feel good at the end of the day," she says.

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